If you'd like help preparing a continuing education presentation proposal for Greenbuild 2011, contact Chusid Associates as soon as possible to have your entry completed by Monday January 17.

For more information contact jill@chusid.com.

What does it take to write a winning Greenbuild or Government Summit session proposal? USGBC's conferences are recognized for leading the industry, so we are looking to fill Greenbuild's approximately 100 education sessions and the Government Summit program with the very best, most innovative educational content. Submissions that shine will rise to the top.

Jeremy Benkin, LEED AP, at CB Richard Ellis chairs the Program Working Group for USGBC (a volunteer position). He recently spoke with CONNECT, a newsletter that supports a sustainability events database, developed by the Green Earth PR Network, and we thought his tips were worth sharing.

Remember: Submissions are due Monday, Jan. 17, 2011, at 11:59 p.m. PST, no exceptions.

It's an online submission. We recommend that you prepare your submission ahead of time in a Word document and then cut and paste it into the required fields, paying attention to the word/character count for each section ahead of time. For more help in creating your submission, check out the Submittal Guide document (PDF). Using the template will also help you to easily submit one proposal for multiple USGBC Educational Events.
The 2011 theme for Greenbuild is NEXT, and submissions should address the theme. The event is in TORONTO this year (have those passports handy!) and it's OCT. 4-7.

Here's what's different this year, according to Jeremy:

The 2011 Call for Session Proposals (PDF) now includes the Residential Summit and the International Summit as well as Greenbuild and the Government Summit (renamed from "Federal Summit"). The Federal Summit was renamed to acknowledge that much of the innovation, progress and experiences to share are coming from the state and local levels as well as our federal government.
Pay attention to the new Topics Areas in the Call for Proposals – you'll need to choose one for your submission.
You also need to identify a Session Framework for your proposal, choosing from: Proven Performance, Projects with 12 Months of Performance Data, Challenges and Failures in Green Building, Human Impact, Costs/Benefit Analysis, and Forward-Thinking & Visionary Concepts. These were based upon the feedback from the Greenbuild audience. The goal was to ensure proposals be educational and relevant.
Finally, there is a new Thought Leadership & Research track that will follow a new review process including a peer review of published papers prior to inclusion in the Greenbuild program.

Speaker proposals are PEER-REVIEWED, and you're invited to be a part of that process!

USGBC uses a three‐tiered review process to review all submitted and complete proposals. In other words, you really have to grab the reviewers on the first round to make the cut and continue in the process.

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